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Electroactive Polymers (Eap): Simulation Studies Of The Actuation Mechanisms In A Cantilever Cellulose Electroactive Paper, Fatim A. Mbaye

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Electroactive polymers (EAPs) exhibit large strain in response to an external electric field and have attracted a great deal of attention in recent years for sensor and actuator applications. Favorable properties include soft actuation, ease and simplicity in manufacturing, being light-weight, low power consumption, and the ability to withstand harsh environments. However, this is an emerging material, and several aspects, including the fundamental mechanisms for piezoelectric deflections, remain unclear. This project studies the internal electromechanical factors that contribute to the voltage induced deflections of electro-active paper (EAPap). Experimental measurements of bias dependent deflections and water absorption as a function of …

Microfabrication Of An Optical Chamber For Exposing Living Cells To Pulsed Electric Fields, Saleh Sheikh

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

I have fabricated a chamber which enables the application of Nanosecond Pulsed Electric Fields (nsPEFs) to living cells while monitoring their real time fluorescence with an inverted microscope. The No. I thickness (150µm nominal) coverslip glass substrate used for fabrication allows the use of high numerical aperture oil immersion objectives for imaging intracellular organelles. Electrodes are fabricated by first evaporating a chromium adhesion layer, followed by a nickel seed layer. Subsequently, an ultra-thick positive photoresist is applied and patterned to create a 30µm thick electroplating mold. The electrodes are then electrodeposited into the mold from a nickel sulfamate plating bath. …

Antimicrobial Activity Screening Of Recombinant And Synthetic Varasin A Defensin From The Hard Tick Dermacentor Variabilis Against Various Bacteria, Julia A. Sharp

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

Hematophagous arthropods, such as ticks and mosquitoes, rely on their innate immune system for defense against pathogens ingested in a blood meal as well as those acquired through injury. In response to pathogen recognition, the production of antimicrobial peptides, such as defensin, is typically upregulated. Varisin, a defensin, is thought to be a key component in the immunocompetence of the hard tick D. variabilis against Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease. To study the antimicrobial effects of varisin, recombinant varisin was expressed by both insect cells and E coli. Purification of the protein followed by enterokinase treatment yielded …

The Plasmodium Falciparum Chloroquine Resistance Transporter, Pfcrt, Mediates The Activity Of Chloroquine-Resistance Reversal Agents In The Malaria Parasite, Kristin Lane

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

Chloroquine (CQ) resistant Plasmodium falciparum is a serious problem affecting 3.2 billion people in over 100 countries today. Most endemic malarious countries are among the poorest in the world and lack the resources to replace the inexpensive and highly effective CQ. CQ resistance (CQR) reversal agents are a potentially inexpensive solution to restoring CQ efficacy. CQR reversal agents are drugs that have little to no antimalarial activity alone, but in combination with CQ, they increase dmg accumulation in the parasite and enhance the sensitivity to CQ in CQR parasites. PfCRT is a putative transporter located on the parasite digestive vacuole …

Hydrodynamic Fin Function Of Brief Squid Lolliguncula Brevis, William Jeffreys Stewart

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

Although the pulsed jet is often the foundation of a squid's locomotive system, the lateral fins also play an important role in swimming, potentially providing thrust, lift, and dynamic stability. Fin morphology and movement vary greatly among squid species, but the locomotive role of the fins is not well understood. To begin to elucidate the locomotive role of the fins in squids, fin hydrodynamics were studied in the brief squid Lolliguncula brevis, a species that exhibits a wide range of fin movements depending on swimming speed. Individual squid were trained to swim in both the arms-first and tail-first orientations against …

Stochastic Optimization Formulations For Structure Design, Shivanandini Tanuku

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The production process and the operational environment of a product usually involve many unpredictable elements, such as the manufacturing tolerance, the service loads, the maintenance schedule, etc. Furthermore, the targeted functionality of a product can also be alternated or enhanced in its service life due to the technology advancement, new demands, or new regulation. It is thus a challenge to a designer to include these uncertainties in the early design stage of a product.

This thesis uses a simple three-bar truss problem as a vehicle to investigate the qualities of the optimal solutions resulted from various stochastic programming formulations. The …

Unproductive Bodies: A Materialist Critique Of The "Corporeal Turn", Paula Cerni

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

[First paragraph]

Contemporary theory tends to neglect the human body's role in the production of material objects. This neglect is most glaring in constructionist approaches, whose post-structuralist view of the social as discursive practice necessarily downgrades the practical relations between humans and their physical environment. Arthur Frank, for example, formulates a typology - partly derived from Bryan Turner's theory of 'bodily order' - according to which the body acts in four ways: as a disciplined, dominating, mirroring and communicative body (Frank, 1991; Turner, 1984). None of these four modes of action involve the body acting practically on the wider material …

Bactericidal Effects Of Cold Plasma Technology On Geobacillus Stearothermophilus And Bacillus Cereus Microorganisms, Angela D. Morris, Gayle B. Mccombs, Susan L. Tolle, Mounir Laroussi, Wayne L. Hynes

Dental Hygiene Faculty Publications

Cold plasma is a state of matter that contains a large number of particles that are electrically charged. Plasmas generate chemically reactive species and ultraviolet radiation making them useful in decontamination applications (Kong & Laroussi, 2003). Research regarding the inactivation of gram-positive bacteria by cold plasma has been studied by Laroussi et al (2003); however, there is limited research regarding the germicidal effectiveness of cold plasma on Geobacillus stearothermophilus and Bacillus cereus microorganisms. The purpose of this study was to determine if cold plasma technology inactivates Geobacillus stearothermophilus and Bacillus cereus vegetative cells and spores. This study consisted of 981 …

Correlation Of Eastern Wild Turkey Poult:Hen Ratios With Population Indices To Detect Reproductive Density Dependence, Jay D. Mcghee, Jim Berkson

Virginia Journal of Science

Knowledge of how density affects population growth is important for the harvest management of wild turkey. Unfortunately, available time-series are often too short for statistical detection of density dependence. The correlation between wild turkey recruitment and population size was assessed using data from 7 state wildlife agencies, circumventing the problem of short time-series by using multiple datasets. Correlation coefficients were calculated between surveyed poult:hen ratios and harvest-based population indices for 31 geographic or harvest management regions. Estimated correlation coefficients were tested for homogeneity to determine if an average correlation could be calculated. Correlation coefficients for the 29 regions ranged from …

Depauperate Small Mammal Communities In Managed Pine Plantations In Eastern Virginia, James D. Dolan, Robert K. Rose

Virginia Journal of Science

Loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) plantations of four different ages were examined to identify changes in the small mammal community in relation to changes in the vegetational community. Small mammals were evaluated during five seasons using two methods of trapping. Live traps accounted for 65% of captures and seven of nine species, whereas pitfall traps yielded eight species, of which two were not taken with live traps. For both trap types, catch rates averaged less than two per 100 trap-nights, very low even for pine forests. Both abundance and biomass of small mammals declined with increasing stand age, whereas species …

Sacred Cyborgs And 21st Century Goddesses, Katharyn Privett

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

The late 20th and early 21st centuries shifted significantly from their Postmodern bearings in their search for new meaning, new ideologies, and new gods. One such shift resides in the contestation of the meaning of the feminine body and its corresponding gender, or more often, the lack thereof. Feminist theories of essentialism and constructivism, after years of battle over the delegation of the sexed flesh, were reinvigorated by Donna J. Haraway's riotous cyborg trope - evidence that the argument had finally left the security of the Ivory Tower and was now up for new, albeit alien, interpretations. [1] …

Circulation, Vol. 14, No. 1, Center For Coastal Physical Oceanography, Old Dominion University, Brian Ward

CCPO Circulation

Summer 2007 issue of CCPO Circulation featuring article "Air-Sea Measurements in the Indian Ocean" by Dr. Brian Ward

Benthic Biological Monitoring Program Of The Elizabeth River Watershed (2006), Daniel M. Dauer

Elizabeth River Reports

Executive Summary

Macrobenthic communities of the Elizabeth River watershed have been quantitatively sampled since summer 1999. This report presents the data from the eigth year of sampling in 2006. The three objectives of the Benthic Biological Monitoring Program of the Elizabeth River watershed are: (1) To characterize the health of the tidal waters of the Elizabeth River watershed as indicated by the structure of the benthic communities. (2) To conduct trend analyses on long-term data at 14 fixed-point stations to relate temporal trends in the benthic communities to changes in water and/or sediment quality. Trend analyses will be updated annually …

Intimate Partner Homicide, Karitta A. Page

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

Using data collected from the Chicago Women's Health Risk Study (Block 2000), this study looked at female perpetrated intimate partner homicide. The purpose of this study was to identify what factors, if any, differentiate between abused women who kill versus abused women who do not kill their intimate partners. Through conducting this study, several factors such as substance abuse, support networks and severe violence were compared between abused women who kill their intimate partner versus those who were abused women but did not kill. It was found that severe abuse, substance abuse by the abuser and the abused person were …

Evidence For Disease Mediated Extinction: Correlation Between An Introduced Pathogen And Extinction Of Rattus Macleari On Christmas Island, Kelly B. Wyatt

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

The Durham Collection and the Cambridge and Oxford University Museums provided the materials to investigate the possibility that the extinction of indigenous rats of Christmas Island was a result of disease introduced by infected ship rats (R. rattus) in 1899. The collections of H.E. Durham in 1901-1902 reveal that R. macleari was present on Christmas Island up to then and includes specimens of R. rattus together with specimens that exhibit characteristics of both R. rattus and R. macleari. Durham's notes indicate both R. rattus and R. macleari specimens were heavily infected with trypanosomes at the time of collection. In …

Old Dominion University Space Systems Engineering Competency Development To Accommodate Orbital Flight Projects, Ersin Ancel

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Undergraduate engineering students in Old Dominion University's Batten College of Engineering and Technology have been engaged in the design, development, testing and flight of scientific sounding rocket payloads since 2004. During that time, two payloads have flown and a third payload has nearly achieved flight-ready status. The sophistication achieved by the flight-ready payload has resulted from the evolution of a rather rigorous space system design process that requires student involvement over periods of time that are much longer than those typically associated with an -undergraduate design course sequence.

In order to acquire the expected level of definition and reliability for …

Annual And Interannual Variability In The Wind Field And The Hydrography Along The Seward Line In The Northern Gulf Of Alaska, Isaac Schroeder

OES Theses and Dissertations

The Northeast Pacific GLOBEC (GLOBal ocean Ecosystems dynamics) program (October 1997 to December 2004) collected hydrographic data along the Seward Line that stretches from the inner shelf (GAM 59.8°N, 149.5°W) and extends over 200 km beyond the continental slope (GAK13 58.1°N, 147.8°W). The complexity of the interannual hydrographic variability in this area stems from the interacting influences of local forcing such as winds, coastal freshwater discharge, eddies, fronts and remote forcing like El Niño-Southern Oscillation. Until now, the influence of winds on the system has been calculated using coarse resolution upwelling index data or spatially sparse buoy data. The coarse …

The Impact Of Intercultural Training On The Satisfaction And Achievement Of Undergraduates Taught By International Teaching Assistants, Kirsten Jensen

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

Much has been done to prepare international teaching assistants to teach American undergraduates, but very little has been done to help the undergraduates learn effectively from instructors of different cultural and linguistic backgrounds. This research used a quasi-experimental, quantitative approach combined with a small ethnographic study to examine the impact of a short intercultural training activity on the satisfaction and achievement of freshman students in the fall Freshman Biology laboratory course at a large public university in Virginia. Satisfaction was measured by the responses of students on an end-of-course questionnaire, and achievement by their grades in the course. Audio interviews …

Mixed Layer Dynamics Along The Seward Line In The Northern Gulf Of Alaska, Nandita Sarkar

OES Theses and Dissertations

The northern Gulf of Alaska marine ecosystem is very productive with a "nutrient paradox". Primary producers require light and nutrients for photosynthesis. A primary source of nutrients is the deep ocean, while light is available in a relatively shallow layer in the upper ocean. In most productive parts of the world oceans, nutrients are brought to surface waters by upwelling. However, in the northern Gulf of Alaska, the winds are generally downwelling inducing and the mechanism(s) by which nutrients are brought to the euphotic zone are not known. One mechanism that might bring nutrients into the euphotic zone is the …

Serotype Association And Regulation Of The Hyaluronate Lyase Gene Of Streptococcus Pyogenes, Martha Stokes

Theses and Dissertations in Biomedical Sciences

S. pyogenes expresses many virulence factors, controlled by a complex regulatory network. These include hyaluronate lyase, an enzyme that degrades hyaluronic acid, a major component of the human extracellular matrix. Paradoxically, hyaluronic acid is also the sole component of the bacterium's capsule, a primary defense against the host immune response. The hylA gene, which encodes the enzyme, has been shown to take three structural forms: a full-length gene, one containing a 3' deletion and a gene that produces a prematurely truncated protein. This work was intended to show that the structure of hylA is associated with serotype, and …

Modeling Habitat And Environmental Factors Affecting Mosquito Abundance In Chesapeake, Virginia, Alan Scott Bellows

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

The models I present in this dissertation were designed to enable mosquito control agencies in the mid-Atlantic region that oversee large jurisdictions to rapidly track the spatial and temporal distributions of mosquito species, especially those species known to be vectors of eastern equine encephalitis and West Nile virus. I was able to keep these models streamlined, user-friendly, and not cost-prohibitive using empirically based digital data to analyze mosquito-abundance patterns in real landscapes.

This research is presented in three major chapters: (II) a series of semi-static habitat suitability indices (HSI) grounded on well-documented associations between mosquito abundance and environmental variables, (III) …

'Everybody Else Ain't Your Father': Reproducing Masculinity In Cinematic Sports, 1975-2000, Marc Ouellette

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

No abstract provided.

A Name In Search Of A Disease': Illness And Identity In Todd Haynes' Safe (1995), Anthony Enns

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

No abstract provided.

Contributors, Bennett Huffman

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

Information about contributors to articles in volume 7 issue 3 of Reconstruction.

Abstracts Of Papers, 85th Annual Meeting Of The Virginia Academy Of Science, May 24-26, 2007, James Madison University, Harrisonburg Va

Virginia Journal of Science

Full abstracts of the 85th Annual Meeting of the Virginia Academy of Science, May 24-26, 2007, James Madison University, Harrisonburg VA

2007 Vas Meeting Best Student Papers

Virginia Journal of Science

List of award winning student papers by section from the 85th Annual Meeting of the Virginia Academy of Science, May 24-26, 2007, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA

Virginia Junior Academy Of Science Awards, 2007

Virginia Journal of Science

Virginia Junior Academy of Science Awards Presented During the 66th Annual Meeting at James Madison University, Harrisonburg, Virginia, May 23-25, 2007.

Re-Making Time: Chronotopes Of The West In Lone Star (1996) And The Searchers (1956), Martin Flanagan

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

No abstract provided.

Psychometric Evaluation Of An Instrument For Assessing Policy Outcomes For Families With Children Who Have Severe Developmental Disabilities: The Beach Center Family Quality Of Life Scale, Joni Taylor Mcfelea

Health Services Research Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Beach Center Family Quality of Life Scale (BCFQLS) in a sample of families with children who have severe developmental disabilities. The study sought to determine whether or not the scale could be used to measure the quality of life of such families and to differentiate between the quality of life of two family groups—those whose child lives in the family home and those whose child lives outside the family home.

The study used an observational, cross-sectional design and both qualitative and quantitative methods. Self-identified primary caregivers of …

The Line Must Be Drawn Here': The Body As The Final Frontier In Science Fiction Films Of The 1990s, Markus Rheindorf

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

No abstract provided.